


As Long As There’s Light

by vanillaxo



Series: chronicles of Penny Parker [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Female Peter Parker, Gen, Mentions of Sexual Assault, NOT STARKER!!!!, Penny Parker - Freeform, Pepper Potts Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, doesn’t go into depth but still be careful pls, kind of angsty but I tried making it fluffy too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-08
Updated: 2020-05-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:35:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24072271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanillaxo/pseuds/vanillaxo
Summary: It wasn’t uncommon for Tony to get alerts from KAREN that informed him of Penny’s injuries and health levels. It was actually more uncommon for him to not get alerts from the AI.Being Spider-Woman made injuries commonplace, much to Tony’s chagrin. But just because getting hurt was part of the superhero gig, didn’t mean that Tony would sit back and let it happen.
Relationships: Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: chronicles of Penny Parker [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1736641
Comments: 12
Kudos: 189
Collections: The Best Female Peter Parker Fics, The Best Irondad/Spiderson Fics, The Best Peter Parker Whump Fics, The Best of the Best MCU Fics





	As Long As There’s Light

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all!
> 
> So, this is part of a series but can definitely be read as a stand-alone if you’d like! 
> 
> This takes place in between chapters 1 and 2 in We Are What They Grow Beyond if anyone was wondering.
> 
> (Please please please read the tags if you haven’t! There’s mentions of sexual assault in this story so if this is something triggering to you, please be mindful about continuing to read! Take care of yourselves everyone!)
> 
> Read on! :-)

It wasn’t uncommon for Tony to get alerts from KAREN that informed him of Penny’s injuries and health levels. It was actually more uncommon for him to not get alerts from the AI. 

Being Spider-Woman made injuries commonplace, much to Tony’s chagrin. But just because getting hurt was part of the superhero gig, didn’t mean that Tony would sit back and let it happen. 

Even though Tony had long since hung up his jersey after snapping to bring everybody back, he was as involved with his spider-kid as he could be- programming every possible safety protocol in Penny’s suit, teaming up with May to create a set curfew for her, having access to Penny’s vitals and location around the clock, coming to an agreement on what Penny’s patrols were limited to before mandating the involvement of Tony and the Avengers- Tony took every precaution possible. 

He knew that it seemed like he was helicopter-parenting (which May and Pepper never failed to make fun of him for), and he had to admit that he was at least a  little bit, but after losing Penny for five years, it couldn’t hurt to be a little more careful. 

If it were up to Tony, he’d prefer to have Penny store away the spider-suit and experience being a normal teenage girl that had nothing more to worry about other than school and boy drama, but he knew that the chances of Penny packing it away was the same as Tony’s when he first became Iron Man. 

_ I shouldn't be alive... unless it was for a reason. I'm not crazy, Pepper. I just finally know what I have to do. And I know in my heart that it's right...  
  
_

_ When you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen? They happen because of you... _

Tony had always seen too much of himself in Penny, which was his biggest fear for the young girl, but as time went on and he was able to see more of Penny Parker, he realized that Penny was so  _ not _ like him in the best ways possible.

She was everything that Tony wished he could be and more. Before Penny, he had never met anyone so naturally  good. So  selfless. So  mindful.

So  _ heroic_.

So, whenever Penny got herself in a situation that left her a bit worse for wear, thus giving Tony  _heart palpitations_ and  _ gray hair_, he tried to remember who Penny was. He tried to remember that she was a superhero, the best superhero out of all of them, and she was needed out there.

_ I need her safe more_ _,_ Tony’s traitor thoughts would always ring back, and even when Tony tried pushing them away, calling out his selfishness, they never fully left. They always lingered like a bitter taste in his mouth.

But those thoughts rang louder when he got alerts from KAREN about Penny’s vitals while she was patrolling, and while her physical injuries were pretty low-grade, Tony felt concern clench in his chest when he was made aware of the distress his kid seemed to be in according to the alert.

“Patch me through to her, FRI,” Tony said immediately, feeling sound at the fact that he knew that Penny wouldn’t be able to deny the call thanks to his trusty upgrades to the suit. He had zero patience for the girl’s tendency to deny Tony’s calls ensuring that she was “fine,” when nine times out of ten, she was not at all “fine.”

As quickly as the content came, it transformed suddenly to concern once the call went through and Tony was met with the sounds of Penny struggling to catch her breath mingled with the  thwip of her web shooters.

“Pen,” Tony called out, his hand flying to rub his chest as he felt stress pains begin to form. “I’m going to need you to stop what you’re doing for a sec and breathe.”

“I’m okay,” Penny rasped, though she was fooling nobody. Her voice was tight and broken, like air was not reaching her lungs and her throat was choked with tears. “I’m okay, promise, I’m okay, I just... I’m okay, I’m heading home.”

It sounded more like she was trying to convince herself than her father figure.

Tony softened, like he did every time it came to his girls, and he let out a soft sigh. “Kid, KAREN sent me your vitals. If you keep going at this rate, you’re going to faint before you even reach May’s. Please just stop for a second. Please.”

Tony’s plea, soft and full of concern, seemed to reach Penny and Tony suddenly stopped hearing her web shooters, and all he could hear was Penny’s shaky breathing.

“Good. You’re doing good, underoos. I’m proud of you. Now do those breathing exercises we practiced, alright? I’ll do them with you,” Tony replied before breathing in deeply, going through the exercise three more times before he heard Penny following along, and eventually Penny’s breathing sounded much more normal, albeit still shakier than Tony liked.

“Better?” Tony asked.

Penny swallowed and nodded her head, beforethe fog in her head cleared a little more and realized that Tony couldn’t actually see her. “Yeah,” Penny said, doing her best to keep her voice stable so she wouldn’t worry Tony further.

Tony let out a breath of relief now that Penny could actually breathe, but he frowned as he heard the sadness in her voice. It was a tone he never wanted to hear from her ever again.

“Yeah?” Tony questioned softly, drumming his fingers against his chest, the soft sounds of Morgan and Pepper in the kitchen beginning to reach his ears. “Need me to come down there? I’d be there 30 minutes, tops.”

“No,” Penny said quickly, and she winced at how sharp it sounded. She quickly normalized her voice. “No, I’m okay, Tony, promise. The breathing exercise helped. Besides, tomorrow’s Saturday, so there’s no point in you coming to see me when I’m heading there in less than 24 hours.”

“There doesn’t need to be a point for me to come see you,” Tony replied instantly. “I always want to see you. And I’ll always come when you need me.”

Tony paused, before diverting the conversation. He knew that Penny being the selfless, self-sacrificial kid she was, she’d never say yes to Tony dropping what he was doing at the lake house to come see her. Normally, he wouldn’t care about her self-sacrificial bullshit, but nothing about this instance seemed too immediate.

He would be seeing her the next day, after all. “How about your injuries? I saw that you got quite a hit to the head and minor abrasions on your arms. You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, minor concussion and a few cuts and bruises but they’ll heal by tomorrow. I’m okay.”

Tony hmm’d under his breath, and he continued softly drumming his fingers, a silent yet comfortable pause falling between the both of them.

“You’d tell me if something was up, right, lucky Penny?”

Penny couldn’t help a little laugh from escaping her lips at the nickname, causing a smile to spread on Tony’s face.

“Yes, Tony,” Penny’s voice was a whisper at this point, and Tony decided to let her be, despite the fact that he didn’t entirely believe her. But something in her voice told him to drop it.

He dropped it, but he wouldn’t push it aside. He’d talk to May later and he’d see how things went tomorrow.

“Alright,” Tony replied after a moment. “Be careful. You know the drill, let me know as soon as you get home, okay? And rest up- I want to see that handy-dandy spider-healing of yours at work and have that concussion and those bruises gone by the time you and Happy pull into my driveway tomorrow.”

“Will do, Tony,” Penny replied, and Tony could hear the world around Penny through the audio, the sounds of her web shooters leaking through, giving way that she had resumed her trek home.

“Okay, you take care, kiddo. Call me if you need anything. Love you.”

Penny couldn’t help the small smile on her face as she replied back. “Love you too, Tony. See you tomorrow.”

She ended the call right after, and Tony’s chest no longer had those annoying, dull aches that came about whenever he was stressed or worried about Penny.

He would be seeing her tomorrow, and his family would be whole once again, as it always was whenever Penny came over. 

* * *

Pepper eyed Tony from across the table as she tried to give her attention to Morgan, who was enthusiastically going on to her parents about her new LEGO sets all the while eating her breakfast. 

Morgan hadn’t noticed that her father wasn’t particularly paying attention- his eyes trained on the phone tucked in his lap, his hands typing furiously away- but Pepper had, and she tried subtly gaining Tony’s attention back to the real world through her stares, but to no avail. Whatever Tony was doing on his phone had him under a spell.

“Mommy, do you think Penny will want to do the Hogwarts castle with me?”

Tony’s head shot up at the mention of Penny, finally picking up on the conversation happening at the table.

“Huh?” Tony asked, trying to recall what the conversation going on at his table had to do with his kid, since he admittedly didn’t hear any other word besides “Penny.”

“Of course, sweetie,” Pepper chimed in easily, ignoring her husband. “Penny will be so excited. I don’t think she’s ever done that one before.”

Morgan smiled happily, her toothy smile out on display. “I think so too! It’s  _ soooo _ big! When is she getting here? I can’t wait any longer!”

Tony’s attention was once again brought back to his phone, and Pepper shook her head slightly, a ghost of a smile on her face.

“Super soon, I promise. While you’re waiting, why don’t you go feed Gerald outside? You’re finished with your food, right?”

At the mention of the family alpaca, Morgan’s eyes lit up and she jumped out of her seat. “Yup! See you later!”

Even as Morgan sped out of the room, the door slamming loudly behind her, Tony hadn’t so much as glanced up from his phone.

Pepper cleared her throat. “Earth to Tony.”

Feeling the change in the room, Tony’s eyes glanced up, and he was met with his wife looking at him with a humored exasperation. “Did I miss something?”

“Just the whole breakfast. You’re lucky Morgan didn’t notice your lack of attention,” Pepper replied, taking a sip of her water. She pointedly looked at where the phone was hidden on his lap. “Everything okay?”

Tony followed her eyes and he brought his phone onto the table before rubbing his temples tiredly. “Sorry, Pep. It’s the kid. Everything’s fine, relatively speaking- I mean, everything is okay, really, she’s on the way here with Happy as we speak,” Tony added once he caught on to the fear and concern forming in Pepper’s eyes.

“She’s just been acting off. Remember last nights instance?” Pepper nodded her head. “Yeah, well, I had thought something was off then, but I didn’t think too much of it. Before I could really speak to May about it, she texted me asking if anything had happened during patrol because Penny was acting weirdly- jumpy, guarded, quiet- which we all know isn’t the Penny we know. And now, Happy is sending me updates through FRIDAY about Pen, and he’s saying that she looks pale and sad, and that she isn’t speaking up a storm in the car like she usually does. I’m just trying to figure out what happened, make sure she’s okay.”

Pepper’s eyes shone with concern at the girl she began to see as her own daughter, but she always had to be the strong one, the voice of reason, so she pushed that aside. “I’m sure she’s okay. You weren’t alerted to any serious injuries, so we know that she isn’t in physical danger, so that’s a big relief. As for the rest, she’s coming here now, so you can speak to her and get to the bottom of it. You know that she opens up to you the most.”

Tony let out a sigh, and Pepper silently wished that Tony would eat more of his food, but she knew it was a lost cause at the rate that he was worrying. “I know, you’re right. I just can’t help but worry. Every second that she’s not here, and I can’t see her in front of me with my own eyes, I’ll always worry.”

Pepper got up from her seat, taking her plate with her, before she bent down to place a kiss to Tony’s cheek on her way to the kitchen. “That’s because you’re such a good dad. Eat up, you’re no good to Penny or to Morgan if you drop dead at your feet.”

Tony smiled to himself, shaking his head, before he began eating his food. Pepper was right, as always, so all he had to was just wait until Penny got here. It would all be okay.

Once Tony reached his last bite, he heard an excited shriek come from outside. Knowing that meant that Penny was here and Morgan had spotted her, Tony placed his fork down and tried not to show how eager he was to go out and see Penny.

Tony watched from the porch as Happy stopped the car and Penny opened her car door, Morgan speeding over to Penny as soon as she had stepped out of the car.

As soon as Penny caught sight of the younger girl she considered to be her sister, her face broke out into a wide smile and she went down on her knees and spread her arms in preparation for the hug she knew was coming. 

Morgan screeched happily as she launched into Penny’s arms, her arms wound tightly around her neck and her legs clinging to Penny’s waist like a monkey. “Penny Penny Penny! I missed you!”

Penny let out a laugh and she squeezed Morgan once more. “I missed you more, Mo-mo.”

“Nuh-uh! I missed you 1,000!” Morgan said, still refusing to loosen her grip on the teenager.

“Wow, that’s a lot! How could I ever beat that?” Penny humored her, which made Morgan giggle into her neck.

“You can’t!”

Tony’s heart warmed at the sight of them. He didn’t think he would ever get over seeing Morgan and Penny together, especially when they were always  _ so damn cute _ together.

For a second, he forgot that there was cause for concern for Penny, so distracted by the smile on her face as she spoke and held Morgan.

But once he was brought back to reality and he really looked, he could see the dark circles under Penny’s eyes, the paleness of her skin, and how her smile kept slipping slightly before being pulled back up- as if Penny was forcing herself to smile.

Tony’s eyes flickered over to Happy, who was making his way up the porch stairs towards the house. He placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder before entering. “Hey, Tony. Do us all a favor and figure out what’s up with the kid, alright? May’s really worried about her.”

Tony pat the man’s back. “Done deal, Haps. You don’t have to tell me twice. And don’t pretend that you’re not worried too. In fact, I think you’re the most worried out of all us, you big softie.”

Although Tony doubted that he was more worried than him or May, he knew that Happy deeply cared for Penny though he didn’t like showing it. But Happy’s love language was acts of service, and Happy was always jumping at the opportunity to be the one to drive and pick up Penny, even if it was out of the way or it was his off-day. He was always buying Penny food during their drives, even when Tony hadn’t told him to, and he had even put blankets and pillows in the car for Penny to use if she needed a nap during the drive.

Happy’s been in Tony’s family for too long now to the point that the uncaring, stern facade he put on for the world wasn’t enough for him to block out the real him to Tony: a big, gigantic, undeniable sap.

And Tony loved him for it.

“Ugh,” Happy made a disgusted face at Tony’s comment, before his own face fell into a smile he couldn’t hold back once he saw Tony grinning at him. “Whatever. I’m raiding your fridge and then taking a nap.”

Tony watched Happy walk into the house and greet Pepper with a smile, both of them falling into easy conversation at the kitchen, a soft smile graced on Tony’s face before he turned back forward to see Penny walking towards the house with Morgan still wrapped tightly in her arms.

“Ah, I see you’ve found our monkey,” Tony quipped as soon as Penny drew closer.

Penny forced a smile on her face. “Yup, you’re welcome. Though, you got any bananas to lure her with to get off me?” Penny raised a hand to tickle Morgan’s side slightly, causing Morgan to giggle.

“No bananas, but we do have juice pops. Research shows that juice pops are way more effective at luring monkeys than bananas.”

“Juice pops?!” Morgan yelled, unknowingly proving her dad’s point before jumping down from Penny and rushing to the freezer. “I thought there was no more!”

Tony chuckled and Penny let out a small laugh, softly rubbing the spot on her neck where Morgan was gripping her.

Tony reached a hand out mindlessly towards her, noticing the redness Morgan’s fingers had left. “You good, Pen? She didn’t h-“

But before Tony could touch her, Penny flinched intensely, causing both of them to freeze before Tony immediately drew his hand back. “Sorry, kiddo, I’m not going to hurt you, you know that.”

Penny let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, of course, Mr. St- Tony. I know that. I should go say hi to Pepper.”

The girl’s cheeks grew red and she turned around suddenly towards the kitchen to go greet Pepper, Tony’s eyebrows furrowing in confusion. He definitely caught on to her near slip-up at calling him Mr. Stark again.

Penny hadn’t called Tony ‘Mr. Stark’ since he woke up from his coma- ever since then, it’s been Tony. But now, she had almost slipped up after all this time and if Tony wasn’t worried then, he was definitely worried now.

Following Penny’s footsteps to head back into his house, he was met with Penny and Pepper hugging for a bit longer than usual. Tony couldn’t see Penny’s face, as her back was towards him, but he could see Pepper’s, and he saw that Pepper was whispering undeniable words of comfort into the girls ear as she rubbed her back soothingly and kept her other hand firmly against the back of Penny’s head.

For some reason, Tony felt as if he was intruding on their moment, and he felt a flash of irritation and sadness at feeling like an intruder when it came to Penny.  _ Why is it that when I so much as reached out to Penny, she flinched, but now she’s holding onto Pepper as if she were a lifeline? _

Trying to avoid the jealousy he felt rise in his chest, he pretended that he didn’t notice the moment the two were having and busied himself with wiping Morgan’s sticky face thanks to her juice pop.

“Alright, smurfette,” Tony stated, a smile on his face as he wiped his daughters blue face the best he could. “Go wash your hands.”

Abiding her dad’s orders, Morgan headed to the bathroom. By the time she had left the room, Pepper and Penny were no longer wrapped in a hug but were caught up in light conversation.

“What? Boo,” Tony heard Pepper’s disappointed voice say, stirring her tea.

Penny let out a small laugh, reaching into the fridge to get a bottle of water. “It’s alright. I think planning was behind anyways.”

“Am I interrupting girl talk?” Tony chimed in, grabbing the coffee mug he had left in a haste when Penny arrived, taking a long swig. “What are two of my favorite girls talking about?”

Tony eyed Penny from the side of his eye as he saw the girls face redden slightly before she played with the cap on her bottle.

“I was just asking Penny about her prom- I remember May telling me that it was in a few weeks. But Pen said that it was postponed.”

Tony looked at Penny, his eyebrows raised in surprise. “I didn’t know you were going to prom, kid.”

Penny’s cheeks were slightly red from embarrassment. “Yeah, well, I didn’t feel like I needed to say anything. It’s not like it’s important.”

“Pen, anything that has to do with you is important to me. Why’d it get postponed?” Tony tried to keep his tone neutral and conversational, but Pepper could hear the inch of desperation in his voice, a slight desperation that always seemed to be present whenever Tony spoke to Penny- as if he was always begging Penny to see just how important she was to him but she wouldn’t see it.

“Our venue cancelled. Something about payment. So, now prom committee has to try and find a new place to hold it, but it’s alright, it’s not that important anyways. That night was supposed to be a patrol night, so I figured I’d just patrol that day, help the little guy, the usual,” Penny shrugged, sipping her water.

Tony’s eyebrows furrowed, a bit put off at the fact Penny was missing prom. He wanted Penny to experience as much normalcy as possible, rather than juggling the safety and well-being of Queens on her own small, skinny shoulders, and prom was the definition of a normal teenage experience. Penny deserved that one night to really act her age.

But before Tony could get a word out, Morgan skipped back into the room, sticky blue hands and face now gone, grabbing Penny’s hand. “Penny! You have to build this new LEGO with me! It’s gonna be so fun!”

While Penny was whisked away by his eager six year old, Tony looked at Pepper. “I saw you two were having a moment over there earlier. What happened? Was she upset about the prom thing?”

Pepper shook her head. “No. Well, I don’t know, I don’t think so. It’s just, when she came in to say hi she looked so sad and unlike her, so I pulled her into a hug like usual and she kind of just... melted into it. I heard her sniffle a bit in the hug so I hugged her tighter and told her how happy I was to see her and that I’d be there for her if she needed. She didn’t say anything back, just hugged me a little tighter, but once she pulled away she was back to normal, the usual smile on her. Like a flick of the switch.”

Tony was sure that his face was tense and hardened, trying to figure out what was going on with his kid. “She’s putting up a facade for us. I don’t like it.”

Pepper shook her head, failing to hide the concern on her face. “Me neither.”

* * *

Tony knocked twice slightly onto Penny’s door before hearing a small  “come in!” before he entered the room.

When he entered, Penny was sitting against the headboard of her bed, her head towards the TV, mindlessly flipping through the channels.

“Hey, underoos,” Tony said, sitting at the foot of Penny’s bed. “I feel like I haven’t been able to talk to you all day and your old man’s feeling a little jealous. Morgan’s been monopolizing your attention all day.”

Penny let out a little laugh, making Tony smile, but that smile immediately flickered downward when he saw that Penny was slightly trembling. “That, and I was actually really into that Hogwarts castle LEGO. Morgan wanted to finish it all today, but then she seemed to forget she had a strict curfew.”

Tony shifted a little bit closer to Penny, his eyes knitted in concern. “Hey, Pen?” He said once more, his tone a little softer, causing Penny to look at him with confusion in her eyes. “Is everything okay?”

Penny froze before regaining her composure. “Yeah, everything’s okay. Why? Are you okay?”

Tony ignored her attempt at deflecting. “Penny, you’re trembling.”

As if just then noticing herself, Penny’s eyes widened as she looked down at her hands and saw that she was indeed shaking.

“Oh,” Penny said, her voice suddenly tired and unmasked. “Sorry.”

“Nope. Sorry doesn’t do it for me. Something’s obviously up, and when something’s up with my kid, I have to know what it is or else I’ll go certifiably crazy, just ask Pepper,” Tony said, wanting nothing more than to sit next to Penny, but with the way she flinched at him earlier, he thought it’d be best if he waited until she gave him the okay.

Penny sniffed before averting her eyes, a habit that she had unknowingly picked up from Tony.

Tony let out a sigh. “Can I sit next to you?” He asked, taking the leap. He hated this long distance thing going on between them.

Penny glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, and she must’ve seen how worried Tony looked because she caved and nodded her head, scooting a bit to the side to make space for Tony.

Tony hid a smile as he sat next to Penny, who he could tell was tense and nervous. The girl was never a good liar.

“Hi,” Tony started with his head tilted, a kind smile on his face, trying to get Penny to look at him.

Feeling Tony’s stare boring into the side of her head, Penny finally turned to look at Tony, trying to hold back tears as she looked at his open, concerned face.

“Hi,” she whispered, resting her head on her hand as she willed tears back.

Tony’s eyebrows furrowed slightly before he gently took her free hand, giving her the opportunity to pull her hand back, but she instead squeezed his hand slightly. “What’s going on, Penny-pie?”

Penny let out a watery smile at his nickname, never able to stop a smile from spreading on her face every time Tony called her one of those endearing, cheesy nicknames. But the smile faded away as she thought about what she should say. “I don’t think I’m doing so well,” Penny whispered, her voice still small and her eyes shining with tears.

“I hate to break it to you, Pen, but we’ve all noticed. You can try to hide it from us, but we know you too well and love you too much to ignore it. Deal with it. It’s just the hand you’ve been dealt,” Tony spoke softly and seriously, yet with his usual hint of humor to try and get Penny to open up a bit to him.

Penny’s lip quirked upwards. “So, you’re telling me that I don’t have a future as an actress? Talk about heartbreak. Time to call my manager.”

Tony’s eyes brightened as a smile spread on his face. If Penny was still able to sass and joke, then he knew she wasn’t too far gone.  He could fix this.

“Hollywood’s overrated anyway,” Tony shrugged. “What’s been going on?”

Penny sucked in a breath before letting it out uneasily. “I  really didn’t want you to find out. I thought... I thought I’d be okay after a night of sleeping on it. But I couldn’t sleep last night because I just kept thinking about...” Penny suddenly threw her head into her hands, her shoulders shaking in muffled tears.

Tony’s eyes widened. “Hey,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, tugging her to his side.

“If you cry, then I’m going to cry. Don’t make your old man cry,” Tony tried joking, but with the way his eyes watered slightly showed he wasn’t entirely joking. Seeing Penny distraught in any way broke Tony’s heart.

But Penny didn’t reply, her head hung low and her shoulders continuing to shake, as if she were trying to hide her tears.

“Am I making things worse? Should I get Pepper? Should I shut up now? Yeah, I’ll shut up now,” Tony rambled nervously. The only times he’d ever be this vulnerable and klutzy in front of anyone were his kids (and Pepper), because being a dad of two girls brought up a whole different kind of vulnerability and nerves to his life. He was still learning.

“No,” Penny finally said, her voice wet with tears as she finally pulled her head up and wiped her eyes, refusing to look at Tony. “You’re helping. Just by sitting here with me, I think, is helping.”

“That’s... good. Really good. I’m glad you feel safe with me,” Tony said, rubbing Penny’s back gently like he always did whenever Morgan was upset. “You think you’re ready to tell me what’s going on? No rush.”

There was silence for a few moments, aside from Penny’s sniffling, before she spoke up again in a whisper, “I’m scared to tell you.”

Tony looked aghast. “What? Why would you be scared? Do you think I’ll be angry with you? Because, I promise you, no matter how angry I might be with you, I will never  _ not _ help you and I will never  _ not _ love you.”

Penny sniffed again, using the sleeve on her arm to wipe her nose. “I don’t think you’ll be angry at  _ me_.”

Tony felt himself freeze. “Alright... did... did somebody do something to you? During patrol last night?”

Penny nodded, still averting her gaze, and Tony’s jaw clenched, his whole body going rigid.  _ Relax_, he had to think to himself.  _ Penny needs you. You can be as pissed off as you want later. _

He thought for a few more seconds, recalling her panic the night before as well as the way she flinched from his touch earlier in the morning. Tony felt his blood run cold.

“Did someone touch you?” Tony asked, and he started seeing red before he had to count to three once Penny didn’t answer right away, instead looking down at her hands.

“Who?” Tony asked, unable to form more words, adrenaline pumping through his veins. The thought of someone touching his child, his  _ daughter_, without consent, made Tony livid. He’d never felt more angry in his life. 

But at the same time, he felt the same amount of deep  sadness, as if there was a weight on his heart. Before his kids, he never thought he could physically hurt for somebody else. But now, he felt as if he were  bleeding for all the world to see.

Penny shook her head slightly. “I don’t know,” Penny whispered. “I was already done patrolling... I... I went back to the alley to grab my backpack that I left and he was there with a woman... and I didn’t have my suit on anymore so I couldn’t just web him up as Penny Parker... so I distracted him long enough to let her run away but... he spotted me...” Penny let out a choked sob.

Tony’s jaw clenched before he stood up suddenly, causing Penny to jump, her tear-stricken eyes flickering to his, making the weight in Tony’s chest heavier. “FRIDAY, have Pepper come here to keep Penny company, please. I have business to attend to.”

Penny’s eyes widened, causing more tears to fall out. “What?!” She exclaimed, feeling panic grip her insides. “Tony, no! Stay with me, please, stay with me.”

When Penny’s vision cleared enough, she saw the darkness clouding Tony’s eyes, the way he was clenching his jaw and fists- he was pissed. Penny didn’t like it.

“Penny,” Tony’s voice was strained, like he was trying to keep calm for her. “Pepper will stay with you. I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

When Pepper came in, Penny’s eyes were wide in terror, shaking her head adamantly, afraid of what Tony would do. “Tony, please. He... he didn’t get to... you know... go all the way. I was able to stop him before it got that far. He doesn’t deserve to get hurt for that.”

Tony’s nostrils flared, his eyes widening, and Penny inwardly flinched. She hated seeing Tony so upset. Tony usually had either an affectionate, happy smile on his face or an annoyingly happy grin on his face. This was far off the page. She had never seen Tony look so angry. 

“He doesn’t _deserve _ it? Penny-“ Tony stopped a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose, attempting to calm himself down. Pepper walked further into the room to wrap an arm around Penny, her confused eyes beginning to widen in horror as she began to grasp the situation. “We need to have a serious talk when we get back. That assh- that  sorry excuse of a man, deserves to be six feet under for what he was trying to do to that girl and for what he was trying to do to you. It doesn’t matter how far he went. He touched you without your consent. That makes him a criminal. He needs consequences. And I’ll gladly give it to him.”

“Tony,” Pepper started, her voice almost warning as Penny let out a mix between a sob and a gasp, obviously horrified. She began gently rubbing Penny’s arm, trying to communicate with Tony through her eyes, but she could tell he was too far gone for that. He was  _ pissed_. 

“Maybe we should sit down and talk about this, give Penny some time to calm down,  _ be there for her_ _,_ ” Pepper emphasized, raising her eyebrows slightly at Tony. “Before we do anything rash.”

“But-“ Tony began to argue, still seeing red, but Pepper cut him off. 

“No,” Pepper started firmly, a protective arm around Penny who was now fully sobbing onto her chest. “ _No_ , Tony. She is upset right now, and I get you’re angry, I am too, but you are not making things better by threatening murder. What Penny needs right now is support and love from her  _ dad,_ something you won’t be able to do if you’re out there as Iron Man doing something you won’t be able to take back.”

Tony felt some of the adrenaline subside at Pepper’s words, the red clearing from his vision, and he blinked, fully taking in the sight of Pepper holding a sobbing Penny against her chest. 

He blinked once again, the anger ebbing away, not leaving him just yet ( _ hell, he doubted that the anger would leave any time soon _ ) but moving aside just enough for Tony to see the truth in Pepper’s words and be there for Penny first and foremost. 

“Alright, underoos, I’m comin’ in,” Tony started, crawling back onto the bed and going to Penny’s side, wrapping his arms around her, with her now being sandwiched between Pepper and Tony. 

Penny shifted a bit so she’d be leaning a bit more towards Tony, and she peeked a look up at him. “You’re staying?”

Her voice was so small, so scared, so unlike the strong, outgoing Penny he knew, and Tony felt his heart shatter. “Yeah, honey,” Tony said, placing a kiss to the side of her head. “I’m staying. I’ll always be here when you need me.”

Penny just hugged him tighter, her head tucked into his chest, and Tony’s eyes met Pepper’s who looked at him with a sad smile on her face, before she looked down at Penny and resumed running her fingers through her hair soothingly. 

Tony placed one more kiss on the top of her head before vowing to himself that he’d never allow this to happen again. He’d rather take a bullet than have Penny ever experience something like this ever again. He didn’t care what he had to do, but he came to the conclusion that his daughter has gone through more than enough at her age, and he’d do everything and anything to prevent that girl from serious harm. 

Whatever it takes. 

* * *

The next day, after a long conversation between Pepper and Tony and a lots and lots of hugs and cuddles, Penny went to go finish building the Hogwarts castle LEGO with Morgan while Pepper made dinner and Tony and Happy went on an errand.

“Girls! Dinner!” Penny heard Pepper yell from the kitchen, making Morgan get up excitedly and the two skipped into the kitchen hand in hand before taking their seats.

Penny’s eyes furrowed in confusion when she sat on the table. “Happy and Tony aren’t back yet? It’s been three hours.”

Pepper didn’t so much as flinch, taking a sip of her wine. “Caught up in traffic. Want some cheese with your pasta?”

Penny slowly nodded her head, before shrugging to herself and eating her dinner.  _ Oh well,_ she thought,  _ more pasta for us. _

It wasn’t until Morgan had already gone to bed and Penny and Pepper were sitting on the living room couch, Penny watching a movie and Pepper reading a book, that Tony had finally come home.

“You’re back!” Penny exclaimed from her spot on the couch, genuinely happy to have Tony back. “Where’d you go?”

She saw him glance at Pepper for a split second before looking back at her, shrugging. “Had to run some last minute errands with Hap. Nothing worth reporting. Any pasta left for me? I’m starving.”

“In the microwave,” Pepper called out, before turning her attention back to the book on her lap.

However, Penny’s eyes were trained on the retreating figure, her eyes narrowed. “I’ll be right back,” she said, to which Pepper nodded knowingly.

She silently shook her head to herself, a smile on her face as she flipped a page, knowing that Penny would’ve found out.

“Hey, Tony?” Penny asked as she entered the doorway of the kitchen, watching as Tony took the pasta out of the microwave.

“Yeah, kiddo?” Tony replied, taking a seat on the counter and began eating the food.

“Where did you really go?” Penny asked, playing with the ends of her sleeves. She wasn’t stupid. She knew that wherever Tony had gone had to do with what happened to her the night before, and she really hoped that Tony didn’t do something bad.

Tony placed his fork down to look at Penny, and opened his mouth to reply, but Penny cut him off immediately as her eyes zeroed in on his hands.

“What happened to your hands?” She asked in a rush, her eyes wide and she hurried to him, grabbing his busted hands. “Tony, what did you do?”

Penny’s eyes began to water as she inspected his hands, taking in the torn skin and blood seeping from his knuckles.

Tony gently pulled his hands back. “Pen, I don’t want you to worry about it. In fact, there’s nothing you have to worry about anymore. He’s been taken care of. And don’t worry, I didn’t kill him,” Tony said bitterly, his eyes having grown darker. “Though the fuc- idiot deserved it. I just taught him a lesson before he was sent to spend the rest of his life behind bars. No biggie.”

Penny let out a sigh of relief hearing that Tony hadn’t killed the guy, but it was fleeting as she bustled around the kitchen to get the first aid kit that she knew Pepper kept in the cabinets.

“It’s great that you didn’t kill him, Tony,” she began. “You’re not a killer. I just- I don’t like that you’re hurt. You shouldn’t have done that.”

Tony looked at her like she grew three heads. “Kid, I love you, but you can be really dumb sometimes. Of course I had to do that. I  wanted to. Nobody hurts my daughter and gets away with it.”

Penny’s lips flickered upwards as she sat down next to Tony, first aid kit in hand.

“Well, I’m just glad you’re not seriously hurt. I still think you could’ve handled this differently,” Penny said, getting to work on Tony’s hands.

Tony looked at her fondly as she cleaned and bandaged his knuckles. How could she care so much about others, even the man who did... _ that _ to her, when she was the one hurting? It truly blew Tony’s mind and only reiterated the intense need Tony felt to protect her.

“Agree to disagree, Penny pocket,” Tony replied, earning another smile from the teenager, causing the smile to grow on his face.

“Now,” Tony shifted. “Let’s backtrack. So, this prom thing. Pep made some calls and it’ll be held at Avengers Tower, free of charge, of course. Now you can dance and party like a normal teenage girl- that’s still a thing, right? I’m too old to be with the times.”

Penny’s looked up at him with her mouth open in shock. “What? You guys would really do that for me?”

Tony lifted his bruised knuckles with an exasperated look. “Duh.”  _ I’d do anything for you, kid. _

Penny felt appreciation bubble in her chest. She wouldn’t admit it, but she was a little disappointed to miss prom. She was looking forward to letting loose for once.

Minding his injured hands, Penny pulled him into a hug. “Thank you.”

Tony squeezed her tighter. “No problemo.”

Once they pulled away, Tony suddenly remembered something. “Oh yeah, I forgot. I’ll be at the Tower alongside the Avengers because, y’know, just in case anything were to happen. We’ll be watching.”

Penny groaned. “Oh man, you guys are going to spy on me.”

“Not really. We’ll be spying on whoever’s your date to make sure they don’t try any funny business. Press a toe out of line and I’m raining down like hellfire.”

“Okay, now you’re just being overbearing.”

“You’re my kid. Overbearing is in my job description.”

“Excuses, excuses.”

“Are you usually this sassy? I have no idea where you get this from. It’s a tragedy, really.”

“The only tragedy is the fact that you’re willing to spend a bunch of money just to have my prom at the Tower so you can watch over me. Get a life, Tony.”

“Ouch. I’m wounded. Literally. Pep, call the ambulance! 911! IXII!”

Penny laughed wholeheartedly, Tony joining in, and when Tony reached out a hand to grip Penny’s shoulder to pull her into a hug, she didn’t flinch.

She hugged him harder. 

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know if it’s quarantine and have a lot of time on my hands or if I’m just really into writing Penny Parker. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed! I had so much fun writing We Are What They Grow Beyond, and you all gave me such kind feedback that I felt like I should add another story to that timeline, so I created this series juuuust in case I wanted to make more Penny Parker five ;)
> 
> (P.S. This hasn’t been edited. It’s nearly 4AM and I’m delirious. Whoops.)
> 
> Hope you’re all well!


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